UK's regulatory body Competition and Market Authority (CMA) is investigating the anticipated acquisition by Carlsberg UK Holdings Limited of soft drink manufacturer Britvic.
CMA said on Tuesday (10) that it is considering whether the upcoming merger by the Danish brewer to form a Carlsberg-Britvic company, would substantially lessen competition within the UK. The CMA is issuing a preliminary “invitation to comment” allowing interested parties to submit any views that impact its decision on the merger.
The UK competition watchdog added that as part of Phase 1 of its formal investigation, it will also contact companies and organisations that are active in the markets affected by the merger.
The government web site stated, "The CMA is issuing this preliminary ‘invitation to comment’ to allow interested parties to submit to the CMA any initial views on the impact that the transaction could have on competition in the UK. This invitation to comment is the first part of the CMA’s information-gathering process, in advance of the CMA’s formal investigation starting.
"The CMA may proactively contact companies and organisations that are active in the markets affected by the Merger, or have valuable insights or evidence that could assist the CMA’s investigation."
The investigation comes as Britvic accepted a deal from Carlsberg worth £3.3 billion in July, after previously rejecting two other bids.
Speaking at the time about the agreement, PepsiCo Europe CEO Silviu Popovici said, “We are looking forward to building on our long-standing and successful partnerships with both Carlsberg and Britvic.
“We believe that the combination of Carlsberg and Britvic will create even stronger sales and distribution capabilities for our winning brands in important markets. We look forward to continuing to expand the partnership into further important markets in the future.”